


For the Night is Vast and Beautiful

by an_actual_ocean



Category: Naruto
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Cussing, F/F, Gen, Self-Insert, Suki/Fuyumi is a go!!, The entire premise of this fic is, This is going to be a whole lot of world building, Warring States Period (Naruto), Wolf summons, mainly Hyo’s doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2019-08-07 03:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/an_actual_ocean/pseuds/an_actual_ocean
Summary: Hyo didn’t ask to be reborn. She especially didn’t ask to be reborn into a world where ninja bullshit is real, and into a time where child soldiers are hardly even blinked at. Electricity and indoor plumbing don’t even exist yet, for God’s sake!





	1. Babies are Boring

The afterlife is astoundingly underwhelming. Darkness on all sides, no sensation but warmth, not even the necessity of breathing touches me. Oh, I forgot to mention the itching. The afterlife itches. A crawling feeling is just stuck under my skin (do I have skin anymore?) and won't go away! After all the religious debate on the afterlife, it’s a bit anticlimactic. Peaceful, but anticlimactic. Of course, thinking this, I jinxed myself.

The darkness became tighter, crushing me. Squeezing me. And am I moving? Yes, apparently. The darkness around my head squeezes tighter and then not at all, and then it’s not dark. Blurs of light and color are the only thing I can see. Then, the itching sensation gets stronger and then burns. Then stops. Instead of itching, I can feel. I can feel so much. The strange thing gripping me becomes a muted rainstorm. Another aura thing surrounds the tan shape in front of me. It feels like a cool breeze and cats, strangely enough. 

A loud sound distracts me from the new sensations all around me. People are yelling, I realize. Not in a language I can actually understand, but I’m familiar with it nonetheless. Ah, Japanese. I’ve watched too much anime in my life to not recognize the language. But… uh, I’m pretty dead, so why are there people talking around me? 

Then the rainstorm thing holding my body moves up, and oh dear, that’s a giant human face. I couldn’t see it before, because my eyesight is shit, but damn that’s a really big face. Wait. The thing holding me is a giant human. My motor skills and eyesight are shit. Oh no. Nope. Not dealing with this. I want to go back to the itchy abyss. I do NOT want a second chance at life!

I’m moving, I realize. The loud voices have stopped and rainstorm person is carrying me. I pass a blip of dirt-water-light-life. Was that a plant? Am I feeling plants now too? 

There are other little blips too. They don’t feel like the plant’s. More like Rainstorm and Breezy Cat’s. Other humans, I realize, just farther away. A creak, then a blast of cold air. I gasp in discomfort, then decide what the hell, I’m a baby, and start to cry. Rainstorm gets… stormier. And I’m falling? Oh shit, I’m falling! Who the hell drops a baby, Rainstorm!

I hit the ground, and honestly it’s kind of a miracle I’m not two for two on dying before my 20th birthday. Well, if Rainstorm wants to be a negligent ass, I’m going to scream my lungs out. So I do. Until I can’t. Babies have no energy, I remember. Also, I was never fucking fed! Ah shit. So much for not going two for two. 

I doze until a new aura thing catches my attention. It’s much stronger than anything I’ve felt before, sharp lighting, wolves, ozone, and salty tears crush my senses. I start crying again, hoping desperately that whoever that aura belongs to finds me. I don’t want to die like this!

The aura draws nearer until my ears pick up a soft sound, almost like a coo, and I’m being lifted again. I’m quickly bundled in a rough fabric. There’s a tugging sensation in my gut, and I hear the person mutter something under their breath. Damn, I really need to learn Japanese.

Another person is in my vicinity, dust and warmth. Suddenly, something is jammed into my mouth. A warm liquid floods from the object, and wow, does that taste really gross. Baby formula, maybe? It tastes like chalky milk and milk is bad enough plain. I decide to call my newfound caretaker Storm Wolf until I get a better name. Storm Wolf unwraps me from the rough fabric, then rewraps me in a softer blanket. 

The pit of my stomach tugs again, and instead of the diverse pings of human auras, it’s the small blimps of life that I think might be plants and larger spots that might be animals. There’s another aura, too. More complex than the animals, but different than humans. It feels like cool, wind-swept mountains, ozone, and somehow even more wolf feeling than Storm Wolf. 

I dub them Mountain Wolf. Mountain Wolf says something, then barks? Is Mountain Wolf an actual wolf? A talking wolf? Sure, why not? If I can sense people by a funky energy source, why can’t there be talking animals?

 

Babies don’t do much, I realize a few days after my birth. There is probably a good reason why minds develop along with bodies, because seriously, I’m going to go mad with boredom. I still can’t see anything unless it’s two inches in front of me, so I’ve resorted to listening to Storm Wolf and Mountain Wolf talk and trying to mimic their sounds. Hyo is a common word said in reference to me, so it might be my name? That’s all I really picked up on, but it’s better than just staring at the blurs of color around me.

My caretakers seem to really like forests, as the only time I’ve come into contact with other human signatures is when Storm Wolf goes to get baby supplies. I get the feeling they weren’t planning on finding a newborn when they decided to pick me up.

I don’t think the villagers like Mountain Wolf very much because they never come into town with us. Speaking of towns, Storm Wolf bought these weird archaic cloth diapers. And while it’s greatly preferable than the alternative, it’s still humiliating. I find out that my body is still female, so that’s a bonus.

Honestly, Mountain Wolf is a sanity saver in the boredom department. They are indeed an actual talking wolf, so they like to push their face up close with mine. Sometimes I can even manage to slip my hands out of my baby burrito and pet Mountain Wolf. I may be an eternal cat person, but damn, if Mountain Wolf isn’t making a case for all dogs. I still really like cats, though. The night breeze rustles the tree branches above us, and I imagine I can see the stars. Maybe I can learn to like this new life.


	2. In Other News, Babies Are Still Boring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyo is not having a good time and finally gets a hint.

My first year passes in a blur of boredom and attempting to talk. My mobility reached a point where, guess what, I can crawl. Fuck, yeah! Storm Wolf was happy about this, until I almost crawled into the fire but, still. Fire! Another thing that happened was the improvement of my vision enough to actually see, hence me trying to get closer to the fire. Apparently, my subconscious baby personality has a fixation on it. But, it’s kinda understandable because fire is fucking cool.

Storm Wolf, whom I can now see, is a tall woman with long silver hair tied back in a low, loose ponytail and piercing gray eyes with dark circles framing them. She doesn’t smile much, usually just at me and Mountain Wolf. Speaking of Mountain Wolf, I think his actual name is Hoshi, but well, first impressions. He’s always going to be Mountain Wolf to me.

Storm Wolf, Suki, as Mountain Wolf has been calling her, is kind of a worry wart. Also, she has a pretty sweet sword. A katana, maybe? I’m not really familiar with Japanese swords. And she wears yukatas with a strangely familiar emblem on it, a diamond dividers into squares. Did I get punted back in time as well as reborn? But that really doesn’t explain Storm Wolf’s silver hair and obvious youth, and Mountain Wolf’s, well, everything. And well, my funky energy sense. My theory is alternate universe. Unfortunately.

Storm Wolf keeps trying to get me to say a word, mom, I think. I mean why not? The lady who gave birth to me certainly doesn’t deserve that title. 

I look Storm Wolf dead in the eyes and say “mom!” It comes out more “mm!” Nevertheless Storm Wolf gasps like her birthday came early. Honestly, she’s such a dork. Mountain Wolf runs over in excitement, because he’s actually just a giant puppy (I’ve actually seen him chase his tail before), and licks my face. I grimace. 

 

Teething is hell. Complete and utter hell. Sharp shooting pain sends me back to when I had braces but it’s somehow worse. Fuck everything. I chew on a stuffed wolf mutinously. I hear a suspicious giggle from the direction of Mom. I glare in her direction, and she just laughs harder. Well, then, if that is how it’s going to be. I open my mouth and let out my best demon baby shriek. Mom stops laughing immediately. Hah!

 

Mom has me strapped in a sling on her back when I feel it. The feeling of multiple auras closing in, all slightly weaker and somehow hostile, alerts me to danger. Damn, I wish I knew enough words to warn Mom and Mountain Wolf. I start to tug at her hair. “Mom,” I call.

She coos distractedly, ok so Mom has probably already picked up on the incoming people. I notice her eyes roving the surrounding forest. The auras are almost on top of us now, and a sudden spike in one of them heralds a spear of earth flying towards us. Mom jumps back and draws her sword. Mountain Wolf growls and leaps into the trees, a human scream of pain sounding a few seconds later. 

A man with dark hair and armor in the old Japanese style steps out of the trees and spits a couple of words at Mom, one that happens to be somewhat familiar. He said “Hatake,” and snippets of memories from a lifetime ago flash through my head. Fuck, the name is from Naruto. Except, the only Hatakes alive in Canon were Kakashi and Sakumo, and Sakumo wasn’t even alive for that long in Canon, so logically, if I am actually in fucking Naruto, I’m before the Second Shinobi War. 

Mom breathes a bolt of lightning from her mouth, a similar pulse in her aura as the attacker form before. And, wait, that’s her Chakra Signature. As far as I can remember, being able to sense chakra is kinda rare. Great, I’m a unicorn. Next, I’m going to find out that I’m a bastard daughter of the Uchiha Clan head or something. 

Mom is tearing through the enemy shinobi, blood flying everywhere. She’s honestly pretty terrifying. Mountain Wolf is back, ripping out the throats of the people Mom doesn’t slay with her sword or electrocute. No one is wearing a headband, I realize with a jolt. Which means, oh shit, it’s either before the Hatakes joined Konoha or before Konoha was even created. Judging by the fact that in the past year, I’ve been all over fire country and felt nothing resembling a ninja village, I’m inclined to believe the latter. Damn it.

Great, the Warring States Era. What do I know? First, children die. A lot. Because shinobi specifically target children from prominent clans. Second, clans hate each other, especially the Senju and the Uchiha. And, well, that’s about it. 

The sound of slaughter stops, and Mom is quietly calming me. Oh, I’m crying, that’s why she’s calming me. I guess my baby body can’t handle the stress of my realization that I got dropped in the most brutal period of an already brutal fictional universe. 

“Shh, Hyo,” Mom is whispering, “I’ve got you.” I jerk in surprise. Huh, thank God for infant neuroplasticity. It makes learning a new language a whole lot easier.

 

Mom unseals our stuff from a scroll when we get ready to make camp that night. I facepalm, which, given my current mobility, means I kind of just flopped my arm against my face. But, still! Random objects poofing out of scrolls is classic Naruto! She’s done this every night for the past year, How did I miss it? I’m such an idiot! I groan pitifully as Mom and Mountain Wolf shoot me worried looks.

 

It takes another week for the other shoe to drop. We’re staying in an inn for once when I realize, there’s no electricity or indoor plumbing. Forget getting killed, I’m going to die from sheer inconvenience. The Warring States Era officially sucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Hyo finally learns curse words, hoooo boy. That’s going to be fun. Also, she isn’t happy about the no modern convience thing.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Hatake Suki’s Traveling Kindergarten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyo learns things.

It’s about the time I start toddling around on two feet that Mom introduces me to the concept of chakra. “Every living thing in this world has chakra, Hyo,” she begins softly. “But few are able to exert their will on nature using it. I am one of those few, and I’m going to teach you how to be one of them as well.” Wow, Mom really knows how to play up the drama of the moment, yet I still find myself entranced by her explanation.

“The first rule of chakra training is don’t practice by yourself. If you run out of chakra, you die. Which is why we’re going to start with meditation and moving your chakra through your chakra coils before you start externalizing chakra.” Mom plops down in front of me. “Close your eyes and concentrate on the little spark of life inside of you. Once you have it, try drawing some of that energy to your hand.”

I do as she instructed and focus my attention inwards, searching for my own chakra signature. My mental feelers brush against warm, crackling flames, the sensation of a cat slinking around my ankles, and the underlying tang of blood. I did it! I found my chakra signature! And just like that, I lost my concentration and my signature slipped from my grasp. Fuck! I open my eyes and flop back with a whine. 

Mom shoots me an encouraging look. “You nearly had it, kitten!” Well, that’s a new one. But well, if Mom can feel my chakra too, it’s kind of fitting. “Try it again.”

I take a deep breath and start again. This time I find my chakra easier, the center of it is near my heart. I reach out and grab a strand of it. It flickers in my grasp, like a flame as I attempt to lead it down my arm. I get to my shoulder when my chakra spikes strangely and I loose it again. 

When I open my eyes, I’m panting. Mom eyes me in concern. “That’s enough for today, Hyo. We’ll meditate like this every night.”

The next day finds me riding on Mountain Wolf’s back as he and Mom enter a small village. We come to a stop in front of what appears to be a bookstore. “Stay here you two, I’ll be right back,” Mom calls as she enters the store. I pout.

I amuse myself by braiding the long silver fur at the nape of Mountain Wolf’s neck. He realizes what I’m doing, of course, but just lets out a huff promising retribution and flops down. The villagers give us a wide berth, I notice when they start whispering. One of the villagers points at me and Mountain Wolf growls. “Stay away from the kid,” his deep voice rumbles against my small body.

The door of the store opens with a jingle. “Now, now, Hoshi, I’m sure they mean no harm,” Mom says, stepping out of the store. She shoots the rapidly paling group of people a threatening smile.

One brave woman steps forward. “We’re just concerned. The child is obviously not a Hatake, and we’d hate for her to have been taken from her actual parents by a ninja.” She practically spits the word.

Mom waves her hand dismissively, “Maa, and so what if I did?” Her threatening smile shifts to display elongated canines.

The townswoman jerks back in terror. Mom shakes her head. “Thought so,” she mutters and turns and walks in the direction of the forest. Mountain Wolf stands up and ambles after her.

I hear her mutter something that sounds suspiciously like “fucking backwards civilian village sheep,” before Mountain Wolf speaks up.

“Suki, might want to watch that language,” he says mildly. She kicks a rock aggressively. I giggle, I know curse words now! Fuck yeah!

After we set up camp, Mom calls me over to where she’s sitting on a log with a roll of paper spread across her lap. There are scribbles scrawled across it, I see as I sit beside her. “Well, Hyo, it’s time to learn how to read!” She says excitedly. Oh. Sweet! I loved reading in my past life. I hear Mountain Wolf snickering behind me, but I ignore him.

My days comprise of traveling in the morning and learning to read and write in the afternoon. Meditation is saved for the evening.

 

Mom had ulterior purposes in teaching me how to read I realize a few months later as I sit before a wolf roughly the size of a house that feels so strongly of sheer nature that it’s giving me migraines. The wolf has pitch black fur and sharp golden eyes that watch me as I keel over from such a strong chakra signature. 

Mom rushes over to check on me as the giant wolf huffs. “She’s fine, Suki. The child is just an exceptionally powerful sensor,” the deep voice of the wolf calls out as his chakra signature folds in on itself. I gasp out a breath in relief.

“Uchu-Sama,” Mom begins, “I’d like Hyo to sign the Wolf Summoning Contract.” 

Uchu laughs, “I figured. She may have blood ties to the clans of the cats, but she’s a Hatake in every way that matters.” He rolls out a scroll with dozens of names scrawled in a rusty red color. “Prick your finger and sign your name, cub,” Uchu rumbles.

Mom hands me a small dagger I use to slice open my finger. I write Hatake Hyo underneath generations of past Hatakes. A poof of smoke, and then there’s a golden wolf pup in front of me. Uchu laughs again and with a parting “Take care,” disappears. 

I hold out my still bleeding hand, “I’m Hyo.” The pup licks my outstretched hand. I wrinkle my nose in slight irritation. 

He wags his tail. “I’m Taiyo!” He yips excitedly. Taiyo’s chakra signature is all sunlight, happy campfires, and crackling sticks. I smile at him, and Taiyo takes it as an opportunity to tackle me and begins to lick my face. I grimace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	4. Keeping Up With the Hatakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyo travels, what else is new.

Mom receives a message by hawk one evening when I’m meditating. Her chakra goes from the regular, if slightly morose feeling, sensation to a lighter, happier feeling. The tears feeling of her chakra is still there, of course, but there’s also sunlight. 

I open my eyes. “What happened?” I yawned, somewhat tired from messing with my chakra. 

Mom glances over to me in surprise. “How do you know something happened?” 

“Your chakra changed, and when I’m meditating, I’m sensitive to that kind of stuff.” Sunfire, or Taiyo, runs over to me as I explain. 

“Hey, Sunfire,” I greet my summon, who has also fallen victim to my habit of giving out nicknames. 

Mom gives us a genuinely happy smile. “A clan summit has been called! Which means all the separate Hatake packs are going to get together. It’s basically a big family wide festival.” 

That actually sounds really fun. Sunfire cocks his head to the side. “Can anyone call a clan summit, or is there only a certain person who can call one?”

Mom laughs. “Only the alpha, most clans call this person the clan head, can call a summit. Right now our alpha is a woman named Komugi. She’s actually my older half-sister!” Mom looks positively delighted at the prospect of seeing her family again.

Wait a minute… “Mom, if your sister is the alpha, aren’t you technically in line to be alpha too?” 

“Well, yes technically, but so is everyone else who can use white chakra. When the current alpha wants to retire, we have a vote to see who gets to be the next one. We don’t do inheritance by bloodline.” Mom explains to me.

Fuck yeah for democracy! “Why don’t other clans do it that way?” I cock my head to the side.

Mom snorts. “They’re not nomadic, for one, so they tend to like the stability of one family having the power. They also haven’t had wolf summons to influence their culture for generations.” She thinks for a minute before continuing. “I believe the Inuzuka pick their alphas in a similar manner, though. You should get back to meditating, kitten.” Mom ruffles my hair.

I huff then do as instructed. Sunfire, after declaring me “boring,” goes to find Mountain Wolf. I sink into a meditative state, which has gradually been strengthening my sensing, I focus inward. I find the familiar fire-cat-blood of my chakra and work to move it around my body. The exercise actually serves dual purpose, to expand my chakra coils, and to improve my control. I moved my chakra to different body parts until I lost my grip on it. Then, I focused outward. 

I decided to follow Sunfire’s familiar chakra signature while he played with Mountain Wolf. His already sunlight feeling chakra becoming even brighter with jubilation, I could feel the beginnings of a headache approaching. I decided to quit meditating before I got an entire migraine. Damn, I really need to get used to hyper focused sensing. 

The next morning, we start to head in the direction of the border between Fire Country and Lightning Country. I ride on Mountain Wolf’s back and Mom carries Sunfire. I’m three and Sunfire is six months so we’re both too young to really walk a long distance. 

Mom begins to point out edible and poisonous plants to us. In her words, “It’s never too young to learn what can be eaten safely.” The ulterior motive here, is so I know one more way to be an effective shinobi. In other words, I theoretically know how to kill someone with a plant. Of course, it helps that Mom provides such details as how to prepare poisons from these plants. I feel like I should take notes on this, and that’s saying something. Even AP Biology from before didn’t make me WANT to take notes. I did it anyway, but I didn’t feel like it. 

We spend the next week like this. Sometimes we dodge patrols of shinobi; Mom, Mountain Wolf, and Sunfire smelling them, and me sensing them. I’ve also figured out that my sensing range is gradually growing as I meditate more. It’s a pretty convenient skill to have.

Sometimes Mom or one of the wolves will catch a scent of something I can’t sense and steer us around whatever it was. 

The change happens about midday after a week of traveling. I sense a patrol of shinobi, most with some sort of fiery tinge to their chakra and all with the same undertone of blood mine has, and Mom just sighs. “Uh, Mom?” I question as we stop.

“We’ve been traveling through Uchiha lands for about a day know,” she says resignedly. “I’ve been expecting this for a few hours, actually. No one really puts up a protest about Hatakes traveling through their land, but it’s generally considered polite to stop when a patrol approaches you.” 

I think about it. “Fair enough.” 

The Uchiha arrive. “Hatake,” the leading shinobi greets mom. “Your pack is look a little… sparse.” 

Mom smiles sharply. “You’re either as dense as a rock or purposely antagonizing me, and you should know either of those doesn’t speak well for your intelligence.” 

The Uchiha laughs. “It’s nice to see you Suki.”

Mom sighs. “You’re annoying as ever Ryoma.” 

“So Suki, now that you have a kid,” he points at me, “ready to settle down?” Ryoma waggles his eyebrows. “Ready to accept my proposal?”

Mom raises an eyebrow. “Maa, you’re still not my type.”

Ryoma huffs a sigh. “Worth a shot. Anyway have fun at that clan gathering thing all the other packs have been going to.”

“Bye, Ryoma…” Mom waves as we walk off.

“See you later!” He calls after us hopefully.

“Not if I see you first,” Mom calls back.

The group of Uchiha laugh as another one steps up to heckle Ryoma. “The woman kicks your ass a couple times and now you can’t get her out of your head,” he states, chakra singing in amusement.

We walk out of hearing range and I raise my eyebrows at Mom. “So… what is your type?” Mountain Wolf and Sunfire start laughing.

Mom sighs in exasperation. “You, kitten, are way too smart for your own good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sure do love some world building. In other news, I have all week off for Thanksgiving so hopefully I’ll have more updates this week.
> 
> Have a shameless plug to my tumblr @an-actual-ocean
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Don’t Leave Highly Intelligent Three Year Olds Unsupervised, or They Might Stumble Apon Your Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyo meets the family.

We make it to the meeting spot about a week after our run in with the Uchiha. It’s a small town found in the foothills of the mountains that make up Lightning Country, and Mom says the population is made up of Hatake who either can’t or don’t want to travel. Most of these people either become blacksmiths, who create the infamous chakra blades of the Hatake, or farmers.

Tents have begun springing up in the surrounding areas and people, mainly white-haired, with the occasional brown or black-haired and blond and red sprinkled throughout the population, are calling out to each other. My head begins to pound from the overwhelming feeling of so many active chakra signatures.

Mom purses her lips in worry. “Come on, Kitten. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Mom steers me toward a house with a forge in front of it. Four signatures, static-ozone-wolf-metal, molten-metal-wolf, storm-ocean-ozone-wolf, and breeze-sun-wolf, inhabit the house.

Mom opens the door without knocking, wow such a good influence, and pushes me through. “Sekitan!” She calls. “I have someone you should meet!”

A man with a striking resemblance to Mom, besides the bandages around his eyes, breezes in from what appears to be the forge. His chakra was the static-metal combo, so Electricity. “Suki, in the time you’ve been gone, I have not lost my chakra sense. I know.” Wow, Electricity is sassy. Molten Wolf slips through the door after him. The other two signatures stay in the forge.

Mom smiles. “Sekitan, this is my daughter Hyo and her summon Taiyo. Hyo, this is my brother Sekitan and his summon Suigin.”

Electricity grunts as I tilt my head questioningly. “Who are the other two signatures?” 

“My son Bofuu and his summon Ichigo,” Electricity responds as he shoots a knowing look in Mom’s vague direction. “I assume all the strong signatures are overwhelming your current processing powers and you’re getting migraines?” At my hum of affirmation, he sighs and walks toward the door leading to the forge.

Sunfire takes this moment to sniff the air and whisper, “I’m going to go explore. I’ll find you later.” He runs out of the door before Mom notices. I’m pretty sure Mountain Wolf realized, but well, his philosophy is that puppies can and will get into everything and it’s just better to let them learn. 

He stalks back out with Bofuu, who from this day on will be referred to as Hurricane, and the rust colored wolf Ichigo, who I’m dubbing Summer, on his heels. “Here,” he shoves a pair of bronze cuff style bracelets into my hands, “these will block the background noise. You’ll still be able to sense chakra if you focus.” 

I slip them on and suddenly the world is silent. I gasp softly and focus on Hurricane, and sure enough, I can feel his stormy chakra bristle with curiosity. The faint impression of the others in the room with me disappearing when I completely zone in on his chakra. “ Thank you,” I mumble in amazement.

Electricity just sighs. “Whatever kid, you need them more than I do.” Mom coughs pointedly. “What?” Electricity grumbles. 

Mom exhales in exasperation. “Bofuu, Ichigo, this is my daughter Hyo and her summon” -Mom looks around for Sunfire- “Hyo, where’s Taiyo?”

I shrug. “He said he wanted to go explore, so he did.” Mountain Wolf makes a sound vaguely resembling a laugh as Mom groans.

“Well,” Mom pinches the bridge of her nose, “why don’t you three go exploring too? Sekitan and I need to go catch up.”

Hurricane grabs my wrist with a grin and tugs me out of the house, ignoring my disgruntled expression. “See you later, Aunt Suki!” He calls on his way out.

Hurricane, in a manner proving his nickname apt, drug me around the small village in a whirlwind of a tour. For an eight year old boy, Hurricane is insanely charismatic and by the time I’m finally able to steer him in the direction of Sunfire, we have a following of 13 children not counting summons from ages as young as four(me) and up to ten. 

We find Sunfire in a grouping of tents entranced as a woman around Mom’s age with white hair, save for a red streak framing her face, and mischievous violet eyes writing various symbols on paper. I focus on her chakra to find snow-ink-ozone-ocean. I blink, Winter it is. “Hyo, Hyo!” Sunfire bounds up to me, “this is Fuyuki, and she can do really cool things with just paper and ink!”

Winter laughs. “They’re called seals. This one shapes fire.” She pulses her wintery chakra through the apparent seal and fire threads out of it gradually, eventually forming a dragon. The dragon flies through the air, to my awe, before dispersing in a shower of sparks above us. 

A chorus of “show us more,” from Hurricane and I’s group has Winter scrawling another seal. This one turns fire into a pack of wolves. Wow, fuinjutsu is amazing! It’s completely incomprehensible to me as it stands, but amazing nonetheless.

Just as Winter begins to write another seal for our amusement, Mom calls my name. My head jerks up. “Ah,” I rub my neck sheepishly, “I have to go.”

I get to my feet as Mom and Mountain Wolf come into eyesight. “Oh, Fuyuki!” Mom calls. “Long time, no see!” Mom’s lightly tanned skin begins to get a pink tinge. I look suspiciously between the two.

“Suki!” Fuyumi brightens considerably. “How are you?” Wait a minute, Fuyuki is blushing too.

“Fine, I’m fine! And you?” Mom walks up to me, gradually getting more flushed.

“I'm doing good as well,” Fuyumi answers. Oh my god. Ohhhh. My. God. These two are so awkward.

“This is Hyo, my daughter, I need to go introduce her to Komugi!” The last sentence was spoken in a flustered rush. Mountain Wolf chuffs as we make a hasty retreat.

“Sooo,” I draw. “Is Winter your type?” 

Mom does a double take. “Winter?” She stutters out. Mountain Wolf is full on cackling as Sunfire looks on in bemusement.

Oh. I blink. “Fuyuki. Her chakra feels like wintery.”

Mom blushes as Mountain Wolf answers for her. “Yes!” He cackles. “Suki has had a crush on Fuyuki since she was like 15!”

Well, it’s time for me to play matchmaker then. Because if Mom’s feelings aren’t reciprocated, then I’m not a reincarnated soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m running out of names, please help. I spent way too long on google translate typing in random words.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Just call Hyo Yenta because she sure can match make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mischief and matchmaking was the alt title for this chapter and that’s exactly what happens

Mom leads me to the nexus of the camp/village where I meet a woman who is Mom’s near twin in everything, including chakra signature, besides the the faded scar stretching from right temple to mid cheek. The only real difference in Komugi’s, because she was obviously Mom’s sister, chakra was that it was sharper.

“Suki!” Spiky Storm (Komugi) calls excitedly as she vaults over a campfire. “So,” she eyes me curiously, “This is the girl you adopted?”

“This is Hyo,” Mom says. I wave.

Spiky Storm grabs my hand and pushes up my sleeve to reveal my chakra seals. “You took her to see Sekitan before me?” She heaves a dramatic sigh and drapes herself over Mom’s shoulders. “My own little sister likes our baby brother more than me,” Spiky Storm bemoans.

Mom heaves out an exasperated sigh. “She’s a sensor, Ko. Of course I took her to see Sekitan first.”

Spiky Storm laughs and steers Mom toward a tent, leaving Sunfire and me to our own devices. I turn to look at him. “So…” 

He cocks his head at me. “You want to go find Bofuu and Ichigo?”

I shrug. “Sure.”

——

The next week goes as follows: Hurricane, Strawberry, Sunfire, and I wreak havoc with the other children, I’m “accidentally” always around Winter whenever mom comes looking for me, Mom continues to be a blushing, stuttering mess in front of her lady love, Winter continues to subtly be a blushing, stuttering mess in front of her lady love, and I continue to be amused by how absolutely blind they both are. Winter is like a disaster lesbian that’s very good at appearing like a distinguished lesbian. Mom’s… well she’s just a disaster lesbian. They’re so adorable.

The thing is that I’m not actually sure how to play matchmaker. I’m putting them in positions to talk to each other, but, unfortunately, my machinations are having little success. Winter’s summons, a wolf with fiery chakra that is an interesting contrast to hers, always eyes me with amusement when I scamper up to them. It’s like he knows what I’m up to, but that would be impossible, because I’m very subtle. (I’m really, really not) The only thing that matters, however, is that neither Winter nor Mom have not caught on. They’re still blissfully, irritatingly ignorant.

I vent all of this to Hurricane and he just looks at me oddly. “Well,” he draws out slowly, “have you tried getting their summons in on it?” I gasp excitedly.

“Hurricane, you’re a genius!” I squeal excitedly. 

“Hurricane?” He quirks a bemused eyebrow at me. I flush in embarrassment. The nickname thing is really just a private thing between me and Sunfire.

“Ahh, your chakra feels like a hurricane,” I mumble.

He blinks. “Fair enough.”

Hurricane is also much more mischievous than anyone gives him credit for. Team hide and seek was his idea, after all. We partnered up, and by rights we should have stuck out like a sore thumb, with my mass of black hair.The best part is, that in a gathering as large as this one, the wolves’ sense of smell is greatly hindered. Instead, I have an unfair advantage because of sensor cheats. Granted, I did have major headaches after every game, but hey, worth it. Let it never be said that I don’t have a competitive spirit. 

——-

Mountain Wolf agrees to Hurricane and I’s master plan easily. The real challenge is to get the dignified Sky- Winter’s summon, his real name is Sora- in on it. The straw that broke the camel’s, or in this case wolf’s, was Winter gushing to Sky about how pretty Mom’s eyes are, according to Mountain Wolf. 

The wolves must have had more success in the matchmaking department than Hurricane and I because they Winter and Mom went on their first date two days before the summit ended. Of course, Mom denied it was a date all of the way out of Electricity’s house, but what else would you call a romantic picnic near a waterfall that Hurricane needs to show me very soon, because how cool are waterfalls? Also, Electricity thinks it’s a date too. Ah, the sweet sensation of validation.

“So,” Electricity moves his head in our direction, giving off the illusion of actually looking at us, “which one of you actually managed to get Suki together with Fuyumi?”

Hurricane and I share a grin. “Neither of us. It was their summons,” I say innocently.

“Really?” He raises an unimpressed eyebrow. 

“Yup,” Hurricane pops the p. 

——-

Mom is deliriously happy for the next two days before the fact that they will go separate ways sinks in. I frown. Maybe I hadn’t thought this out as well as I thought I had. 

“Well, Hyo, Taiyo, gather your things,” she sighs. Sunfire shoots me a worried look, and I shrug helplessly. Mountain Wolf chuffs gently and nudges Mom’s hand in solidarity. 

We make our way to the outskirts of the camp. Wait a minute… the soft, snowy feeling of Winter’s chakra and Sky’s breezy signature are approaching fast. I pause. “Hey, Mom, wait a minute.” 

She stops just in time for Winter to catch up. “We’re coming with you,” Winter states. Mom’s smile is radiant. This is definitely some romcom shit. Good, it’s what they deserve. 

“Of course.” Mom smiles softly. I pump my fist in victory behind their backs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter title is a shameless Fiddler on the Roof reference, because I am a giant theatre nerd. Side note: I apparently don’t know how to spell picnics. You can thank autocorrect and spell check for the relatively decent spelling in my stories. 
> 
> Sorry for the lack of updates, it’s been hectic.

**Author's Note:**

> *Oops I Did it Again by Britney Spears plays in the background* 
> 
> You know, I told myself I wasn’t going to start another long fic until ItEotS was at least at chapter 10, but uh, this wouldn’t leave me alone.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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